Pages

Sunday, March 30, 2008

These cards were easy! I just love those cute little flip flops from the Reminisce Toes in the Sandpaper! I almost put some of them "walking" across the checkerboard tray (see post below) but I reined myself in!

.

My Marvy Uchida punch quickly created the windows. I used a word processor to print the sentiment for the inside of the cards on the flip side of the Toes in the Sand paper (it looks like sand!) then used that to line the inside of the cards. I fussy cut the flip flops and positioned them so that they peek through the windows. (If you click on the picture, it will get bigger.)

.

The words on the front of each card were heat embossed. I am a self taught stamper, and I need to pick up a couple of tips on how to make sure the embossing powder is only where you want it to be...I had some stray bits on the front of the "destination" card which I masked with some extra black paint dots! Can you tell?

To each card, I added a bit of ribbon and a dimensional embellishment - charms are my favorite!

.

Try the ReminisceCoastal Passion papers to create some beach-themed all occasion cards of your own!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Actually, it's both! Using the beach themed papers from Reminisce in this month's Design Team kitmade this project fun and easy. I used my Cricut to cut the (64) squares - boy do I love my bug! I am not sure if I was planning on using the words and icons from the Coastal Passion and Seaside Breeze papers to decorate the playing area from the beginning or not, but it became obvious it was needed. You know how when you start doing work on your house, you discover the walls are never really square? I ran into that when I was laying out the checkerboard pattern. Gaps. So I covered them up...and then I added a few more words and icons just for fun! (If you click on the picture, it will enlarge and make it easier to see.) A couple layers of Modge Podge later and, voila! a serving tray that doubles as a game board!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

I used the same paint process on the chipboard shells in my 2 page layout this month. I used slightly different colors, but the process worked even better the second time around. Scrapbooks Plus has this die available for use in the crop room - stop by and check it out.

This layout went together so easily. A little design tip - I cut my pictures in strips to mimic the striped background paper on the second page. I left the main image in the picture solid, and just worked on the edges. Try it yourself, but make sure you don't cut across anybody's face!

The photos are double matted. First, on white cardstock, so the cutting is really obvious, then on orange, which also helps to tie them in with the photo element on the first page.

The colors in the Coastal Passion collection, by Reminisce, are perfect for recording your memories of those warm days in the sun. Stop by the special Design Team display in the crop room to pick out a few papers you can't live without!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

The Design Team kit this month was filled with fabulous beach-themed papers from the Reminisce Coastal Passion line. I wanted to post my March projects and share what I learned this month..so here we go...

My pages rarely go together quickly. I fiddle around, fix my mistakes, and am often surprised at the end. I really struggled with trying to get the chipboard shells to look "real". I don't have any official art training, but I pulled out my paints and started to play. After several attempts, I finally got the color I wanted, but the shells just looked so flat. So I started to bend the shells along the score lines and I made a discovery! All those layers of "not quite right" paint colors were going to save me! They started to show through, just like the layers of a real seashell show through as it gets pounded in the surf. So I pulled out my paper scuffers and went to work. I admit that nature does a better job of making seashells, but I am happy with my results.

I cut the title with my Cricut (Stamped cart) but thought it just blended into the background too much, so I mounted it on vellum before adhereing it to the page.

I wanted the shells on the Seashell Mosaic paper to stand out more so I used a product called Liquid Laminate (by Beacon) to make some of them shine!

The last thing I did was to tuck a journaling tag behind the top right picture. I cut some "ribbon" from paper and added a seashell brad from my stash.

This was such a fun day at the beach. We never find this many shells...and never this wide a variety! This was the perfect paper to help re-capture the memories.